A GRIEVING father has claimed that the RAF knew about fuel leaks on a Nimrod aircraft that exploded over Afghanistan killing 14 servicemen - including Flight Lieutenant Leigh Mitchelmore, 28, from Christchurch.

Graham Knight, whose 25-year-old son Ben was also among the dead, says he has emails proving that officials kept the plane in service despite being aware of the problems 10 months before the crash.

The aircraft blew up over Kandahar on September 2, 2006, shortly after being refuelled in mid-air. Earlier this year, a Panorama investigation discovered that the Nimrod fleet had suffered a catalogue of problems, including equipment failures and fuel leaks.

Mr Knight claims that one email between officers in February last year warned that the leaks posed "a significant threat to the force being able to meet commitments and operational tasking."

Another said: "The age of the airframe, combined with the aggressive tempo with which we are flying the jets in stark temperature shifts, is contributing to our leak headache."

Although the plane that eventually crashed was repaired after those emails, Mr Knight said he discovered through a Freedom of Information request that it had seven minor leaks when it went into the war zone.

He also found the Ministry of Defence had rejected a 2004 recommendation by the plane's manufacturers, BAe Systems, that a fire detection and suppression system should be fitted.

"It was definitely a fuel leak that led to the crash.

It is quite obvious that an aircraft would not suddenly burst into a ball of flames," said Mr Knight, who accuses the RAF of negligence.

An MoD spokesman said the aircraft were kept safe through a "comprehensive" maintenance and repair process.

"If we didn't have confidence in the aircraft, we would not continue to fly them.

"Nimrod has a good safety record," he said.